George Russell takes third in Jeddah but quietly hoped for more as Mercedes showed flashes of pace in tight qualifying.
George Russell walked away from qualifying at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix with mixed emotions. The Mercedes driver secured third place on the grid, solid by most standards, but admits he couldn’t help feeling a little let down, given the car’s unexpected pace.
“Honestly, before the session, I’d have taken P3 without hesitation,” Russell said. “But once I saw how tight everything was and how close my lap felt, you start to believe there might be a bit more in it. That said, you have to stay realistic. On a high-speed track like this, we just didn’t have the pace to match McLaren, and Max did an incredible job, credit to him.”
Russell also hinted at some surprise over strategy differences, particularly the fact that Verstappen got two flying laps after the red flag caused by Lando Norris’ crash, while he only had one shot.
“It was a tricky session with that red flag in the middle. In the end, we only had one lap to make it count. Red Bull managed to get two runs in, which was interesting. But still, third is a strong result, and tomorrow’s race is going to be long. Anything can happen.”
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Russell Grabs P3 But Admits He Dreamed of More Russell Grabs P3 But Admits He Dreamed of More
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